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DR. HUANG (in Cantonese):-I am sorry. Perhaps my Cantonese is not good enough, but I feel that I have answered your question. Don't you think so? I have already said that I did not say there was a particular swimming pool or park named in an undignified manner, I pointed out differences in degree. I do not object to, say, for instance, a flower clock or pavilion in a park being named after a particular person or Lions Club or something, but a street name is a different matter.
CHAIRMAN (in English):-Can you tell us specifically which swimming pool, park, or other facilities have been named after persons?
DR. HUANG (in Cantonese):-Plenty of them. I believe there are a lot of facilities managed by the Urban Council which are named after people. You have also been at the inauguration ceremonies, say for instance, in Aberdeen there is a swimming pool which, I think, is named after a person. When we name streets the importance is much greater than the recreational facilities which we name. This is the only thing I am concerning about.
CHAIRMAN (in English):-There is actually no swimming pool, no facility, no park named after a person in an undignified manner. In fact, there is no swimming pool named after a person. Every swimming pool has a place name. Can we put an end to the discussion then? So the statement you made is incorrect.
3. DR. DENNY M. H. HUANG asked the following question (in Cantonese):- Regarding ‘An Exhibition on the Life and Art of Hans Christian Andersen': (a) Have the officers concerned looked into the matter concerning the avoidable mistakes in the Chinese pamphlet as alleged by a newspaper reader? If what the newspaper has published is accurate, what will be done in future to raise the standard of Chinese writing and of Chinese translation from English?
(b) The reader also pointed out that the contents and pictures, etc. of the Chinese pamphlet are much more simpler and cruder than those appeared in the well-printed English version. Although our Council staff are more used to English than to Chinese, I think it better to accord equal treatment to both the Chinese and English publications alike. I wonder if the officers in charge can make assurance that equal treatment will be accorded to the printing of Chinese and English documents, etc. in future?
THE HON. F. K. HU, CHAIRMAN OF THE CULTURAL SERVICES SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):-This question deals with the Chinese leaflet produced for the recent exhibition on the Life and Art of Hans Christian Andersen.
The exhibition was a joint presentation of the Council and the Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Council provided the venue and the administration, whilst the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs supplied the exhibition material, including printed leaflets in English and a Chinese translation of the English text.
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The English leaflets and the Chinese translation were received only three days prior to the opening day of the exhibition.
The Chinese translation was prepared when the exhibition was held in Beijing in 1979 and was presumably acceptable on that occasion. It arrived in Hong Kong in simplified Chinese characters which had to be converted to their traditional form for Hong Kong readers.
It is unfortunate that, because of shortage of time, there was no proof reading after type setting, three errors occurred during this conversion as was pointed out by a local newspaper.
The Council has always given equal emphasis to Chinese and English in its publications and departmental officers dealing with such publications are fully aware of this and will continue their efforts to maintain a high standard in both languages.
DR. HUANG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I think Mr. Hu has given me a reply and also assurance. I would like to reiterate that although we speak more English amongst us Councillors, most of the public in Hong Kong speak more Cantonese than English, so if we want to produce anything bilingually and if there is a difference in standard, then most members of the public would have a wrong concept. I thank Mr. Hu for his answer and I hope his assurance will hold true.
4. MR. HOWARD H. W. YOUNG asked the following question (in Cantonese):-What is the expected deficit for the Urban Council for the current financial year and what is it expected to be in the following year? What are the main reasons for a deficit, against the background of surpluses in previous years, and what measures can be taken to deal with the financial situation of the Urban Council?
MR. HILTON CHEONG-LEEN, CHAIRMAN OF THE FINANCE SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):-The deficit for the current financial year could be $199 million and for 1981/82 $361 million. These figures are based on the Five Year Forecast prepared in the middle of this year.
Once all the draft estimates for 1981/82 have been agreed by the relevant select committees, they will be consolidated into one paper for approval by the full Council in November. It is likely that the deficits based on these estimates for 1980/81 and 1981/82 will differ from the earlier figures, but they should not be too significant.
One of the reasons for the Urban Council's finances changing from annual surpluses since financial autonomy in 1973/74 to estimated deficits in the
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
DR. HUANG (in Cantonese):-I am sorry. Perhaps my Cantonese is not good enough, but I feel that I have answered your question. Don't you think so? I have already said that I did not say there was a particular swimming pool or park named in an undignified manner, I pointed out differences in degree. I do not object to, say, for instance, a flower clock or pavilion in a park being named after a particular person or Lions Club or something, but a street name is a different matter.
CHAIRMAN (in English):-Can you tell us specifically which swimming pool, park, or other facilities have been named after persons?
DR. HUANG (in Cantonese):-Plenty of them. I believe there are a lot of facilities managed by the Urban Council which are named after people. You have also been at the inauguration ceremonies, say for instance, in Aberdeen there is a swimming pool which, I think, is named after a person. When we name streets the importance is much greater than the recreational facilities which we name. This is the only thing I am concerning about.
CHAIRMAN (in English):-There is actually no swimming pool, no facility, no park named after a person in an undignified manner. In fact, there is no swimming pool named after a person. Every swimming pool has a place name. Can we put an end to the discussion then? So the statement you made is incorrect.
3. DR. DENNY M. H. HUANG asked the following question (in Cantonese):- Regarding ‘An Exhibition on the Life and Art of Hans Christian Andersen': (a) Have the officers concerned looked into the matter concerning the avoidable mistakes in the Chinese pamphlet as alleged by a newspaper reader? If what the newspaper has published is accurate, what will be done in future to raise the standard of Chinese writing and of Chinese translation from English?
(b) The reader also pointed out that the contents and pictures, etc. of the Chinese pamphlet are much more simpler and cruder than those ap- peared in the well-printed English version. Although our Council staff are more used to English than to Chinese, I think it better to accord equal treatment to both the Chinese and English publications alike. I wonder if the officers in charge can make assurance that equal treatment will be accorded to the printing of Chinese and English documents, etc. in future?
THE HON. F. K. HU, CHAIRMAN OF THE CULTURAL SERVICES SELECT COM- MITTEE, replied as follows (in English):-This question deals with the Chinese leaflet produced for the recent exhibition on the Life and Art of Hans Christian Andersen.
The exhibition was a joint presentation of the Council and the Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Council provided the venue and
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
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73
the administration, whilst the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs supplied the exhibition material, including printed leaflets in English and a Chinese translation of the English text.
The English leaflets and the Chinese translation were received only three days prior to the opening day of the exhibition.
The Chinese translation was prepared when the exhibition was held in Beijing in 1979 and was presumably acceptable on that occasion. It arrived in Hong Kong in simplified Chinese characters which had to be converted to their traditional form for Hong Kong readers.
It is unfortunate that, because of shortage of time, there was no proof reading after type setting, three errors occurred during this conversion as was pointed out by a local newspaper.
The Council has always given equal emphasis to Chinese and English in its publications and departmental officers dealing with such publications are fully aware of this and will continue their efforts to maintain a high standard in both languages.
DR. HUANG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I think Mr. Hu has given me a reply and also assurance. I would like to reiterate that although we speak more English amongst us Councillors, most of the public in Hong Kong speak more Cantonese than English, so if we want to produce anything bilingually and if there is a difference in standard, then most members of the public would have a wrong concept. I thank Mr. Hu for his answer and I hope his assurance will hold true.
4. MR. HOWARD H. W. YOUNG asked the following question (in Can- tonese):-What is the expected deficit for the Urban Council for the current financial year and what is it expected to be in the following year? What are the main reasons for a deficit, against the background of surpluses in previous years, and what measures can be taken to deal with the financial situation of the Urban Council?
MR. HILTON CHEONG-LEEN, CHAIRMAN OF THE FINANCE SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):-The deficit for the current financial year could be $199 million and for 1981/82 $361 million. These figures are based on the Five Year Forecast prepared in the middle of this year.
Once all the draft estimates for 1981/82 have been agreed by the relevant select committees, they will be consolidated into one paper for approval by the full Council in November. It is likely that the deficits based on these estimates for 1980/81 and 1981/82 will differ from the earlier figures, but they should not be too significant.
One of the reasons for the Urban Council's finances changing from annual surpluses since financial autonomy in 1973/74 to estimated deficits in the
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